


There Must Be Some Misunderstanding (Must Be Some Kind of Mistake)

by goddess_julie



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Misunderstandings, girl!Harry, girl!Liam - Freeform, girl!Louis, girl!Niall, girl!Zayn, girl!direction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-06
Updated: 2014-11-06
Packaged: 2018-02-24 09:44:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2576990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/goddess_julie/pseuds/goddess_julie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Liam hates Niall but the blonde doesn't know why.  They're forced to work together on a project which starts off with a bang.  Louis makes things worse, Harry is adorable and Zayn will go to the ends of the earth to protect her best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	There Must Be Some Misunderstanding (Must Be Some Kind of Mistake)

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this yesterday for NaNoWriMo day 5. Didn't get to post it until now. I didn't want to spoil the pairings but it is what it is. Hope you like it. Feedback is always appreciated. xo

Niall’s phone chimes with a new text. When she checks it she frowns, not recognizing the number. She hands it to Zayn whose eyes rise as she smiles.

“It’s Liam,” Zayn says dismissively, handing the phone back to Niall.

Niall’s face drops, her jaw gaping open unattractively. “Liam? Payne? Liam Payne? That Liam?”

Zayn gives her a bored roll of her eyes as she nods. “Tommo told me in Calc that you and Leeyum were put together for an English project. She said Liam didn’t have your number so I gave it to her to give to Liam.”

“Liam hates me,” Niall whines pathetically. She’s not used to being disliked. By anyone. And for Liam Payne, who is practically a saint, to hate her makes her miserable. She looks to Zayn, her supposed best friend, for sympathy. When she finds none she frowns.

All she gets in response is an apathetic shrug. “Liam Payne doesn’t hate anyone. She gets very disappointed in people, but she doesn’t hate them.”

“Well she hates ME,” Niall reiterates sadly. She checks her phone to read the message.

‘y dont we meet in da lib? Dat ok wit u?’

“See,” Niall holds up her phone to show Zayn. As if it somehow proves her point. She frowns at Zayn’s laughter.

“God,” Zayn cackles. “You are going to need all the help you can get with her Nialler.”

Zayn snorts at the look of disgust on Zayn’s face at Liam’s grammar and spelling. “Snob!”

“And proud of it.”

It’s not until the end of her last period that Niall realizes she doesn’t know when she’s to meet Liam in the library. She heads towards the section of the school that the library is and slowly enters the spacious room. It takes almost no time to see Liam sitting at a long table at the far end. Her face is pinched while her shoulders are held straight.

The closer Niall gets, the more clear it is how disappointed Liam is. Before Niall can even say hello, Liam speaks.

“Thank you for finally showing up.” Liam’s voice is clipped, her eyes narrowed as she looks up at Niall. “You may not be serious about school, but I am.”

Niall recoils as though she’s been slapped. She lets her bag drop from her shoulder in surprise as her cheeks turn pink from embarrassment. Harry Styles and Ed Sheeran are at the next table working on something together. At Liam’s outburst they both look up with mild interest.

“Excuse me?” Niall asks when she can finally find her voice.

“I have been waiting for you for over an hour. You could have at least told me you’d be late. I could have gotten something from the canteen while I waited.”

“I’m not late.”

Liam cut Niall off before she could continue. “You can’t even apologize? I’m not surprised, coming from you.” She says ‘you’ like Niall is a disease.

From the corner of her eyes Niall can see Harry and Ed talking softly, probably about her and Liam and the scene they’re making. She bites back the urge to cry and takes a deep breath. What she wants to do is ask Liam why she hates her this much, what she’d ever done to her, but she can’t. Instead, she picks up her bag from where it fell and stands her ground.

“How can I be late when you didn’t text me when to meet you? I just got out of last period and came right over.” She sees Liam’s eyebrow quirk, as if disbelieving her claim. “Check your phone, mate,” she sneers.

Liam picks her phone up off of the table. She sees her scrolling through and knows when she’s located the text she’d sent Niall earlier. Her shoulders sag and her face crumples. When she looks up, her eyes are filled with embarrassment and shame.

Niall is past the point of caring. Her adrenaline is rushing through her veins and she feels closed in, confined. She reaches into her bag for her notebook. With sharp movements, she rips out a few pages and slams them on the table so hard she makes Liam jump. Niall takes satisfaction of that.

“Ideas. I thought them up while in History, what we could maybe do our project on. I put it in a list of easiest to most difficult and what I thought might be fun. Look it over and let me know what you choose. I’ve marked my favourites.” Niall reaches back into her bag and pulls out a brown paper bag that’s crinkled and tosses it on the table. She turns on her heel and starts to walk away.

“You … you’re leaving? Liam squeaks loud enough for Niall to hear her and spin around sharply. 

“Yeah. I’m leaving.”

As she passes the other table, Ed gives a smile and a wave while Harry says hello. Like they both haven’t been siting there watching, probably enjoying her embarrassment. She flips them both off with a confident smile she doesn’t feel and strides out of the library without looking back. The door slams behind her and Niall is halfway down the hall, heading towards the exit before she has her phone out and is typing furiously.

‘Payne’s a cunt. And she hates me. FML”

~~

Niall is finishing a bowl of popcorn as she watches X-Factor when her phone starts to ring. Zayn’s face is beaming up at her from her screen and she swipes to answer the call. A grunt of a hello is all her best friend gets.

“You didn’t even let her apologize?” Is what Niall is met with.

For a moment, her body goes still, her skin cold. The popcorn is sitting sickly at the bottom of her stomach and she feels nauseous. Zayn is supposed to be her best friend, is supposed to support her. This doesn’t feel good and she has to fight to control her breathing. Zayn must understand her silence and what it sounds like because she continues quickly.

“Not that she wasn’t wrong. Nialler, that’s not what I’m saying. What she did is shitty and it’s all her fault and is even worse that she did it in front of Harry and Ed. But I’d have made her grovel. A lot.”

Niall lets out a soft chuckle and fights to relax. “Don’t care.”

“Aww babe.” Zayn’s voice is soft and placating. “She’s not usually…”

“Well she is with me. It’s me, it has to be. And you all telling me that she’s not like this really makes it worse because she is and you’re all just … Look, it’s one project,” Niall has gotten up and is pacing around her bedroom. “It’s one project and then after that she can go back to hating me from afar rather than publically.”

She hears Zayn cluck her tongue on the other end of the line and hates the pity she feels, like she’s this charity case that needs to be handled with kid gloves. “I don’t know how anyone could hate you, Nialler.”

“Well when you find out, let me know?” Before Zayn can speak Niall sighs. “Look Zee. I’m tired. Gonna go to bed, see you tomorrow.” She disconnects the call before Zayn can argue and turns her phone off completely. She doesn’t want to think about it. 

Her bed is cool and comfortable. She curls up with one of her favourite stuffed animals and buries herself under her blankets. She doesn’t cry, Liam Payne isn’t worth the tears, but she can’t get it out of her head. It takes her a long time to fall asleep that night.

~~

The hall is relatively busy before class and Niall has her head ducked into the back of her locker, looking for a book she knows she’d put in there the day before. She can feel someone over her shoulder, standing directly behind her. She is expecting Zayn, probably will give her shit for hanging up on her and turning her phone off the night before, but Niall knows it’s best to face the music first so they can get on with their day. She’s shocked when she turns to find Louis Tomlinson behind her.

“Liam’s sorry,” Louis says with a bright smile. Like that will make everything better.

Niall’s face is a mask of indifference. She shrugs and turns back around to face her locker. “Fine.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Louis asks, her tone challenging. Niall forces herself not to give in to it.

“To you, yeah.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” The smaller girl now has her hands on her hips and an expression of indignation on her face.

Niall exhales a sigh and turns back around to face Louis. “If she’s sorry, she can tell me herself. I don’t need her to send her friends to apologize for her, this isn’t grade three.” She watches indignation turn to anger on Louis’ face.

“Are you calling me immature?”

Niall can tell there is a crowd gathering around her and she starts to shrink in on herself. She can only shrug as she searches for her quickest escape route out of this situation. She nudges her locker closed and starts to walk away. When she gets a few steps away, Louis’ firm hand on her arm startles her and she squeals in surprise, jumping away.

“Don’t walk away from me,” Louis says hotly.

“Sorry,” Niall mutters, head down. “I just …can’t…”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Louis’ voice has risen almost to a yell as everyone gets louder around them, laughing and talking about how Louis is about to fight Niall.

“Niall?” She hears Zayn’s voice in the crowd and turns around frantically to find her. It takes a few seconds, but their eyes meet and Niall is so relieved she thinks she might cry. Zayn sees the panic in her eyes and shoves her way through the crowd to get to Niall.

“Fuck, MOVE!” Her arms are around Niall instantly and she collapses against her. Niall is shaking, holding onto Zayn as though she’s her life line. “Shhh, babe. It’s okay. I’m here.”

Zayn’s eyes rise to meet Louis who is standing in front of them, looking genuinely shocked. Her eyes are wide and cheeks are pink, a panicked look on her own face. “The fuck did you DO Tommo?” Zayn hisses.

“Is she okay?” Is all Louis can say. Her voice is so soft Zayn can barely hear her over everyone else. Niall whimpers and Zayn growls at the spectators.

“Fuck off everyone,” Zayn says. No one leaves and she can only roll her eyes as she continues to hold Niall in a tight embrace. She turns back to Louis. “What did you do?”

“Nothing,” Louis huffs. “I just wanted to talk to her.”

Niall sniffles against Zayn’s chest. Zayn runs her fingers through Niall’s blonde locks as she glares at Louis. Finally the smaller girl breaks.

“She said I was immature,” Louis finally admits with a blush. “She went to walk away and I grabbed her arm. You showed up.”

No one noticed Liam approaching, looking around warily until she sees Niall in Zayn’s arms. Niall is obviously distressed and Zayn is livid. She gets closer to hear what Louis is saying.

“She should at least hear Liam out. I just wanted to talk to her, to tell her Liam was sorry and she freaked out on me.”

“YOU WHAT?” Liam’s voice echoes through the hallway from the crowd. She steps through the path that has been made for her by her classmates and sees Niall pull away from Zayn. Niall looks around and before anyone can stop her, runs through the crowd down the hall until she’s free and they can’t see her any longer.

Niall doesn’t stop running until she’s at the music room. She throws herself against the back of the door and tries to gasp through her tears. She’s shocked to see Harry sitting at one of the drum kits and can’t help the groan that escapes her throat. She wants to be alone, she doesn’t want to have to answer questions or talk to anyone.

“Sometimes,” Harry says with a kind smile. “I go into the instruments room when I want to be alone. No one looks in there and it’s a good place to think. Or cry. I sometimes go there to cry when it gets too much.” Harry averts her eyes from Niall’s, as though she’s embarrassed. When she turns back again Niall sees her lips curl into a grin. “Plus, when I start practicing, no one will be able to hear you cry in there. You know, if you wanted to do that that is.”

Niall swallows down her panic and nods. “Thanks.” She walks across the room to the door to the instrument room. When she turns to look at the other girl, she sees Harry pull her long curly hair into a messy pony tail before she starts beating the drums. She’s right, Harry’s so loud on the drums she knows no one will hear her sobs. She’s crying before the lock snicks into place.

**

“I told you I would handle it Louis,” Liam hisses at her friend.

“I just wanted to help!” Louis still doesn’t understand exactly what happened and what the big deal is.

“Yeah, how did that work out for you?” Zayn says as she growls at everyone she passes. She starts to walk in the direction Niall had taken off in, wanting to find her friend. She doesn’t have to look to know Liam and Louis are following her and she fights off the urge to just punch both of them in the face for hurting Niall like they have.

“I really am sorry,” Louis says as she stops and bites her lip nervously. She turns to Zayn who also stops. “Is … is she okay? She really freaked out when I grabbed her, and I didn’t even … it wasn’t even that hard.”

Zayn sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. She knows it’s not entirely Louis’ fault, but she can’t forgive her, at least not yet. “She gets panic attacks if there are too many people around. Everything closes in on her and she can’t breathe, can’t think.”

“She’s never going to forgive me,” Liam’s whine interrupts their conversation. She’s holding her head as though she’s in pain and her face is scrunched up in discomfort. Zayn looks at her with one raised eyebrow.

“Liam? Why do you hate her so much? She’s never done anything to you yet it’s like you get off on making her miserable? Why?”

Zayn watches Liam blush and Louis grin knowingly. Neither girl speaks which infuriates Zayn to no end.

“Fine. Fuck it. Keep it to yourself, just leave her alone or you’ll have me to deal with. And next time you’ll both be the one running off crying. You just might be bleeding while you run.”

“Payno!” Louis begs.

“Shut it Lou,” Liam growls back. 

Zayn’s had enough. “I’m over this. You both can sit here and fight over who’s the biggest bitch. I’m going to find Niall to make sure she’s okay.” She’s surprised when Liam rests her hand on her am.

“Can I? I need to apologize to her. I’d like to speak to her.”

Zayn is skeptical. She doesn’t want Liam anywhere near Niall, especially now. “Are you going to be a dick to her?”

Liam shakes her head. “No. I promise.”

It’s a gamble but Zayn finally nods. “Check the music room. She goes there when she wants to be alone. Tell her I’ll meet her for lunch. You fuck this up, I’ll make you regret it Liam.”

“I know,” Liam whispers as she heads towards the music room to find Niall. She enters and sees Harry at the drums, breathing hard and flushed. “Have you seen Niall?” Liam asks politely.

Harry gives a sheepish shrug in response and looks around her. “Been practicing.”

“Did she come through here?”

Harry pauses for a moment before answering. “No, sorry.”

Liam’s face falls and she sighs. She turns around to leave when Harry’s voice stops her.

“Liam Payne, you know that one might think you were a big bully if they didn’t know you well.”

Niall is watching the interaction through the cracks of the instrument room door from where she’s sat on the floor. She sees Liam turn back around and give Harry a sad smile.

“I’m not sure I’m not, Harry.”

Harry’s laugh is light, her smile comforting. “You aren’t Liam. Although I don’t know why you dislike Niall so much. She is quite lovely.”

She doesn’t emerge from her hiding place until Liam is gone and the door shuts behind her. She’s received a text from Zayn to make sure she’s okay and that they will be going off campus for lunch.

“Thank you,” she says to Harry shyly. “You didn’t have to say that.”

Harry grins back and pulls Niall into a bone crushing hug. “It’s true, you are very lovely. I’ve always thought so.”

Niall’s blush covers her face as she looks up at Harry. “You’re lovely too.” She’s surprised as Harry turns her head in embarrassment, looking down at the ground shyly. It’s like she doesn’t know how lovely she is, like no one tells her that fact daily.

“You don’t have to say that,” Harry’s blush is adorable and has Niall giving her first genuine smile of the day.

“Thank you for hiding me,” Niall whispers as she heads towards the door, Harry a few steps behind her. She turns around to face Harry just before she reaches the door to lead them to the hallway. “Do you want to join Zee and I for lunch today?”

“Won’t she mind?” Harry looks like she wants to accept but doesn’t want to intrude.

Niall shakes her head. “No, she won’t mind. It’s not …we’re not… She’s my best friend.” She watches Harry’s eyes widen and her smile light up the room. She nods enthusiastically.

“I’d LOVE to!” Harry approaches Niall and grabs her hand gently, lacing their fingers together. “Just a warning, I might fancy you Niall Horan,” she admits softly. 

Niall’s lips curl into a happy grin as she steps closer to Harry and leans in to whisper into her ear. “I might fancy you back Harry Styles.”

They’re at Zayn’s locker a few moments before the lunch bell rings. Niall skipped her morning classes, not wanting to be gawked at by everyone who had heard about the altercation in the hall that morning. Harry was at her side, shielding her from the whispers and glances, their hands clasped between them as they spoke softly to one another.

“Holy shit,” Zayn’s voice interrupts them, startling them both. “Do my eyes deceive me?” Both Niall and Harry blush which causes Zayn to cackle. “Oh this is going to be fun. You two can tell me all about it in the car. 

It isn’t until they’re in the parking lot, a few rows away from Zayn’s car that they see Liam standing there, arms wrapped around herself and shaking. They approach slowly, unsure as to why Liam is there, waiting for them. When they are close is when Niall can see Liam has been crying. She tightens her grip on Harry’s hand and steps forward. 

“Liam? Are you okay?” 

Liam gasps as she looks up. She sees them in front of her and wipes her eyes quickly. “I just …needed to apologize. I’m sorry Niall, I feel so bad. I never meant …” She looks into Niall’s eyes and the pain there is enough to hurt Niall’s heart. “I’m so sorry.”

With a gentle hand, Niall puts her hand on Liam’s shoulder and squeezes gently. “It’s okay. Do you want to maybe come to lunch with us?”

Liam shakes her head in jerky moments. She looks up at Zayn and then Harry. It’s then that she notices Harry and Niall are still holding hands. Her eyes then flicker up to Zayn as if to see her reaction. 

“You okay Leeyum?” Zayn asks calmly. She doesn’t want to spook Liam who looks ready to bolt. Or vomit.

“You?” she says to Niall. “You …and Harry?”

Harry nods as she gives Liam a wide, bright smile. “Isn’t it great?”

“But you and Zayn?” 

Niall wrinkles her nose and winces. “Ew. No.”

Zayn gives an offended huff in response. “Fuck you Nialler. You wish.”

“Not in my worst nightmares.”

Liam covers her eyes with her hand and groans. She gives Zayn one last forlorn look before bursting into tears and running back towards the school, her sobs echoing behind her. 

Niall looks at Harry who has a sad expression on her face. “Oh, Liam,” she whispers with one hand on her heart. Niall is confused.

“What did I miss?”

“I think she thought you and Zayn were together. Might be why she hates you.”

Niall still doesn’t understand and she tells Harry this. Harry kisses her cheek as though her cluelessness is adorable. She’s not too sad about that, if she’s honest.

“I think she likes Zayn. And she thought you two were dating, so of course she’s jealous of you. You’re gorgeous, lovely and … well supposedly dating her.” They both look at Zayn who has lit a cigarette and is smoking it, waiting for them to leave.

“Oh Jesus,” Niall groans. She looks at Harry and Zayn before looking in the direction that Liam has just gone off in. “Maybe you two go for lunch. I want to talk to her.”

Harry nods squeezes her hand affectionately. “I usually see her in the library, you’ll probably find her there.”

“Zee, s’just you and Harry for lunch. I need to go talk to Liam.”

Zayn rolls her eyes as she flicks her butt across the parking lot “Whatev. I’ll bring you back something.”

The library is deserted, which works in Niall’s favour as she can hear the faint sound of someone crying in one of the corners. It takes her a bit of time but as she turns a corner, she sees Liam curled in on herself, crying into her arms. Niall makes a sound so that Liam knows she’s not alone, when the other girl looks up, Niall gives her a small smile.

“I think we need to talk.”

Liam straightens her back and wipes at her face. Niall watches her put on her brave face and feels so much affection for this girl in this moment that she can’t help but hug her. Liam goes completely stock still for a moment before falling into Niall’s embrace.

“I’m so sorry,” Liam wails against Niall’s shoulder.

“It’s okay,” Niall says, surprised when she finds that it’s true. Liam looks too miserable, too broken for her to hold a grudge against her. “I’m not mad.”

“Why not?” Liam asks with a sniffle. “You should be, I would be.”

“I think that maybe we just got some information mixed up. Like you hate me because you think I’m dating Zayn and me hating you because you hate me? Except I don’t hate you.”

“And I don’t hate you,” Liam admits with a blush. “I hate that I can’t hate you. You’re so nice and of course I thought you’re dating Zayn.”

“But I’m not.”

“Which makes me even more horrible,” Liam groans. “It was all for nothing.”

Niall grins and wipes Liam’s face with the sleeves of her sweater. “Liam Payne, do you fancy my best friend Zayn?” Liam only nods, looking miserable and defeated.

“Well, what if I told you that up until today, all she’s done is defend you to me.” Niall watches Liam’s jaw drop and her eyes widen. “Exactly. Liam Payne is so nice. She’s so brilliant. She’s fit and is great at footie. She doesn’t hate you because Liam Payne is too good a person to hate anyone. Liam Payne is perfect.”

Niall snorts as Liam hides her face in her hands. 

“You’re taking the piss,’ Liam says shyly. Niall can’t help but giggle and hug Liam close.

“Wish I was mate,” she says. “Zee thinks you’re perf. Well, she did until today.”

“Can you ever forgive me? Or Louis? I didn’t know she was going to do that, I’m so sorry for this morning. Lou is beating herself up. Went home early she was so sick about it. Didn’t help that I yelled at her for a bit.”

“YOU? Liam Payne yelled at someone?” Niall teases with a shoulder bump to Liam’s side. When they both stopped giggling, Niall rest her head on Liam’s shoulder. “Seriously though Liam, it’s okay. Now that I know. It’s okay, I’m sorry for everything too.”

“Maybe we can be friends?” Liam’s voice was soft, her face shy. Niall gave a nod and linked her arm with Liam’s.

“I’d like that. “ Niall looked at her watch, surprised to see how much time had passed. “Come on, let’s ditch the rest of the day. I’m not in the mood for class.”

Liam looked like she was going to argue. Finally, she nodded. “Okay. Where do you want to go?”

“We’ll meet Zee and Harry in the parking lot. Zee can drive us somewhere, maybe we’ll go to Louis’ house and I can talk to her too?”

Liam grinned as she nodded. “I think Lou would like that.”

Zayn was pulling into her parking spot when Liam and Niall arrived in the lot, their arms linked together. She stepped out to greet her best friend with skepticism in her eyes. “What’s this?”

“We’re going to Louis’,” Niall announced. She walked to the other side of the car to hug Harry, losing herself in the other girls’ embrace. “I want to talk to her and apologize. She went home upset after this morning.”

Zayn flashed Liam a surprised look who only nodded with a grin. Harry and Niall climbed in the back, leaving Liam to share the front with Zayn. 

“She’s really amazing,” Liam said with awe as Niall threw her head back and laughed at something Harry was saying. Her eyes caught on the affectionate expression Zayn was giving the blonde. 

“She is. Her capacity for forgiveness is overwhelming sometimes.”

“Zayn’ Liam says with a nervous lick of her lips. She takes a deep breath and turns to face the other girl. “I apologized to her and I want to apologize to you. I was shitty to her because I was jealous. It was stupid.”

“What were you jealous of?” Zayn asks. 

“You. I thought she and you were dating.” It takes a moment for Zayn to understand. Liam watches her blush.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“We. We’re not.” 

“She said.” Liam smiles as she climbs into the car and turns to look at Zayn who looks uncomfortable. When she turns and their eyes meet, Liam’s stomach flutters at the smile there.

“Leeyum Payne, a jealous twat. Never would have guessed that,” Zayn teases. Niall kicks her seat.

“Oi. Don’t be mean. That’s my friend you’re talking about. Liam Payne is wonderful. Liam Payne is so nice and would never be mean to anyone. Liam Payne is perfect.”

They watch Zayn blush harder as Niall cackles. 

“I mean, that’s what you always tell me, right?”

“I hate you Nialler,” Zayn wines as they all giggle.

“You love me,” Niall calls back. She starts whispering with Harry as Liam reaches over the console to whisper into Zayn’s ear.

“I think you’re perfect. And wonderful. And very fit.”

“I always knew I liked you for a reason Leeyum.”

“Let’s go,” Niall whined. “I’m hungry and we still have to go to Louis’. Maybe we can go out for something to eat. Liam and I didn’t get to eat.” When she leans back she sees Harry staring at her with awe in her eyes. Niall feels a little self-conscious at the way she’s staring at her. “What?”

“You’re lovely Niall Horan,” she says confidently. 

Niall jumps when she hears Liam’s voice from the front seat.

“The loveliest.”

They all laugh as Zayn pouts in the front seat. “Hey,” she whines.

“I think you’re lovely, Zee,” Niall announces with a grin. She looks around and smiles. They just need to talk to Louis and it will all be okay. She’s sure.


End file.
